Fishing was good

San Andres to Bocas Del Toro

San Andres Columbia

This island has been a wonderful experience for us. The people we have met here, the locals and the other yaughties have given us some pleasant memories. Gil and I had made friends with Peri and his girlfriend Paulette who we met at Nenes Marina. Peri keeps his boat at a slip, which he rents out, to tourists. He also has a couple of vans he uses for tour groups and gives well-organized and knowledgeable details about the island. Peri spent a few years working in Calgary to finance his business. He bought two wave runners and a couple of vans loaded them on a ship, brought them to the island, and set up shop. I spent a day shopping with Paulette while the boys went and did guy stuff. It was nice having Paulette show me where all the good buys in town were. Most of the time I end up buying something that is cheaper at another shop. Marcel and Celine Dionne (not that Celine) are a Canadian couple from Sarnia Ontario on board the Sailing vessel Alley Cat. They had come from the San Blas islands on their way to Florida, where they will leave their boat and fly home for the summer.

 

April 2 2009: After spending more than two weeks on this wonderful island, Gil and I decided to head down to Bocas Del Toro Panama. The weather was calling for light winds from the east and slightly south with small wave heights. At 11 in the morning after a leisurely breakfast, we pulled up the anchor and got under way. As usual, the wind is not what was forecasted and is more south so it was on our nose. We motored all day and into the night. The trip to Bocas is almost 200 nautical miles. We averaged 5 knots an hour, which is good for us and we should arrive in the morning of the second day. Our evening meal was easy to prepare because the sea was very calm and the boat was almost upright. Life on board a sailboat is laid back if the weather is nice; Gil and I take 3-hour watches alternately, while one of us sleeps, the other person keeps the boat on its heading. Most of the time you can read or keep yourself busy with a small chore that can be done in the cockpit.

 

April 3 2009: The second day of our two-day journey to Bocas Del Toro was going well until the wind died off, and our wind vane steering could not work. Therefore, we turned our electric autopilot on, put out a fishing line and we were cruising at four and a half knots an hour. About twenty minutes later, we caught a small shark. Gil had a wonderful fight and getting it on board was comical because I was so squeamish about having a shark on the deck. The darn thing was not giving up the fight and Gil had to subdue it with very little help from me (I used the wussy girl card and it does work). I quickly scanned my seafood recipe book to see if I had a recipe for shark meat. Moreover, there were several so Gil had to clean it instead of throwing it back. Later in the afternoon I laid down for a nap and about an hour later Gil woke me up to tell me we had to steer by hand the rest of the way. Our autopilot died. Nothing Gil tried to fix it worked so we decided to do one-hour shifts at the helm. At least it was a nice night with no wind or waves other than being tired we arrived at the entrance of the channel by morning. Getting in is very easy with a well marked channel right to the town of Bocas. As soon as our anchor was, set Karen and Mike from the sailboat Beau Soliel came over to welcome us to the harbor and to inform us about a new marina, which was having a grand opening barbeque that afternoon. The red frog marina and wildlife reserve was offering complimentary dock space, beverages and food, well, almost every sailboat on the hook in the anchorage set off towards hospital bight for the occasion. Gil and I decided to check in a after we repositioned ourselves next to a dock and free drinks. As soon as our anchor was up the port captain and his entourage showed up next to our boat. We told them we were going to the new marina and we would check in there. As soon as we got there, we checked into the country of Panama and headed posthaste to the bar. The Red Frog marina is a spectacular place, the main dock is large enough to drive golf carts on it with finger docks that have lots of space between them for large boats. There is a nice clubhouse close to the docks with amenities planned for the future. The whole place was planned to have vacation homes in a rainforest setting and three of the most beautiful beaches on the north side of the peninsula make it postcard perfect. Gil and I walked to the beach the next morning through lush verdant forest that is very cool even though it had become extremely hot. The beaches are famous for the turtles, which come to lay eggs on them. As you walk through the forest paths, you hear all the birds in the treetops. We passed bamboo stands, banana trees bearing fruit, many varieties of bird of paradise, and large trees covered with vines most women pay lots of money to have in their homes. This place would be a place I would come to for a nice vacation it looks like it will become a five star vacation place. Oh and by the way it is called the red frog because of the little red frogs, they are a protected species and brilliantly colored.